Steve Stricker carded a 7-under 65 in the final round of the Regions Tradition on Sunday to defend his title in Birmingham, Ala.
Stricker finished at 23-under 265 for the tournament to earn his third career Regions Tradition championship. He also won the event in 2019 and 2022.
“It was a special week here again,” Stricker said. “I don’t know what it is about this place, but it brings out the best in me for some reason, I’ve played some really good golf here and (Sunday) was no different.”
South Africa’s Ernie Els, who was the second-round leader, and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, who shared the lead with Stricker after three rounds, finished at 17 under to tie for second at Greystone Golf & Country Club. Els carded a 65 on Sunday, and Karlsson, who shot a course-record 9-under 63 on Saturday, recorded a 71.
“I fought hard today, I’m playing well, just Steve Stricker is amazing on this golf course,” Els said. “He’s playing amazing golf.”
Stricker has made eight starts this season on the Champions Tour and has two victories and three runner-up finishes. The 56-year-old remains atop the Charles Schwab Cup point standings as the tour’s hottest player.
Starting the round tied with Karlsson at 16 under, Stricker had birdies on each of his first three holes and finished with eight for his round. His lone bogey was at the par-3 14th hole.
“I got off to a good start, birdieing the first three holes kind of settled my nerves a little bit,” Stricker said. “I played really nicely all the way around. I had one little hiccup on the par 3 on 14, but other than that, it was a really solid round. I made some putts, hit it in there close, and it’s always nice to win out here, especially with it being a major.”
Stricker totaled 10 birdies on a 13-hole stretch from No. 11 in the third round through No. 5 in the final round.
“I needed that finish yesterday just to keep touch with the leaders,” Stricker said. “I was thinking if I could get a couple of birdies coming in and I ended up getting four of them. … To start off with three today that was seven in a row, and that kind of put me in a position where it was my tournament to win.
“It’s good in a way, but also hard when you’re trying to win a tournament, you just don’t want to screw up. You’re trying really hard, you’re protecting. That’s a hard way to play sometimes.”
Stricker’s 23 under matched Doug Tewell’s event record set in 2001 at the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain in Arizona. He also became the fifth different player to successfully defend the event’s title, following Jack Nicklaus (1990-91; 1995-96), Gil Morgan (1997-98), Tom Lehman (2011-12) and German Bernhard Langer (2016-17).
Jerry Kelly (68 on Sunday) finished in fourth at 16-under 272, while Marco Dawson (68), Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (68), England’s Paul Broadhurst (70) and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (71) tied for fifth.
–Field Level Media